80% of millennials are ready to turn to Google, Amazon, Facebook or Apple for insurance. (Source: Bain & Company report 2018). An impressive, but not really surprising, figure….

insurers have good reasons to be worried faced with the GAFA’s insatiable appetites and their expertise in the area of customer relations and connected objects.

A new shake up in sight?

As in many sectors, the customer relationship is key. Yet it’s clear that in the current ecosystem, that relationship has been badly managed. With tacit renewal of contracts, points of contact are infrequent. And when they do occur, it’s often under difficult circumstances (loss or damage, or an accident…). The threat is being taken seriously: during the last French Insurance Federation international conference Jacques Richier, head of Allianz France, stated: “We cannot hide our worry at the arrival of these web giants on the insurance market. The platforms that are looking to control the ends of the value chain, such as the customer relationship, represent a genuine threat”.

Insurance or prevention?

With the growth of connected objects for the home and health, the very basis of insurance –  to cover costs from insurance claims –  could be misused.

In 2014 Google, having bought up Nest, a company that specialises in connected thermostats and smoke detectors for more than 3 billion dollars, sent a clear message: we want to come into your home (and collect your personal data).

Since then, things are moving fast. The latest Apple Watch can detect cardiac fibrillations (early warning signs for runners of possible heart attack) and Amazon Pay has joined forces with Aviva France to reimburse insurance claims instantaneously. Luckily, we didn’t have to wait long for a reaction…

Insurers are going digital.

Conscious of the threat, a number of insurance companies have decided to take action. Axa is one of the first to offer connected solutions to protect and run the household. From break-ins to leaks to fires, the policy holder is kept informed of what is going on at home in real time. A tool which is reassuring for the owner and his budget, as his excess is reduced.

Most recently, insurers, such as La Macif and Allianz, are interested in our mobility. They offer to equip your car with a connected box which analyses your driving in real time throughout the year. If the data shows that you are careful and responsible (in terms of rules of the road as well as ecological driving) insurance premiums can be reduced by as much as 30%!

In future, which of the GAFA or insurers will take the lead in managing and preventing our losses…no-one knows yet…but maybe they’ll decide to join forces!